William s



(No Model.)

S. HAMM.

RAILWAY LANTERN.

No. 549,314. Patented Nov. 5,1895.

UNITED STATES PATENT i OFFICE.

WVILLIAM S. 'HAMM, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO THE ADAMS dz:

' WVESTLAKE COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

RAlLWAY-LANTERN.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 549,314, dated November5, 1895.

Application filed February 20, 1893. Serial No. 463,040. (No model.)

. To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM S. HAMM, a citizen of the United States, anda resident of Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinoisfhaveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Lanterns for RailwaySwitches, Signals, &c., of which the following is a full, clear, andexact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings,forming a part of this specification.

My invention relates to lanterns such as are mounted upon railway-switchstands for the purpose of indicating the position of switches, and whichare placed upon railway cars or engines for indicating the character ofthe trains, and which are used in various other signaling and indicatingcapacities-in railway and analogous services.

Among the primary objects of my invention is included that of producinga lantern the casing of which shall possess the utmost simplicity and atthe same time strength and durability of construction and which shall beso formed as to be readily struck up by dies, thus producing aninexpensive and at the same time efficient lantern-casing. A furtherprimary object of my invention is to produce a lantern-casing the jointbetween the sections or members of which shall be perfectly tight, so asto preclude all flickering or extinguishment of the flame by winds, andwhich shall, furthermore, possess a steady and uniform draft under allatmospheric conditions.

To the above purposes and such others as may appear from the ensuingdescription, my invention consists in certain peculiar and novelfeatures of construction and arrangement, as hereinafter described andclaimed.

The more precise nature of my invention will be better understood whendescribed with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure1 is a View partly in side elevation and partly in transverse verticalsection of a lantern embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a View of thelantern, partly in plan and partly in horizontal section. Fig. 3 is anenlarged view, in horizontal section, of the closing attachments at thejoint of the lanternsections. Fig. 4 is an enlarged detached view of oneof the lens-holding rings.

In the said drawings, 1 designates the lower portion or section .of thelantern-casing, and 2 designates the upper portion or section of saidcasing, the casing being shown as of cylindrical form at its lower andupper parts and as having four lens-sockets arranged in two opposite andintermediate pairs and placed midway of the height of the lanterncasing.

I desire it to be understood that the precise cylindrical form of theupper and lower sections of the casing is not absolutely essential tothe spirit of my invention, nor is the precise described number oflens-sockets essential, these matters being susceptible of considerablevariation, according to the paricular uses to which the lantern may beapplied in any given instance. However, in any event the upper and lowersections are preferably formed of sheet metal, desirably steel, and arestamped up from blanks in suitable dies, so that when the two sectionsare properly assembled together a line of contact shall extendhorizontally 'across and around the casing midway of the height of thelens-sockets. The two sections of the lantern-casing are securedtogether by means of vertical bolts 7, or rivets, screws, or otherequivalent devices, and such bolts are shown as passing through flangesor lips protruding outward at the meeting edges of the two sectionsbetween each two adjacent lens-sockets. In order to prevent the thinmetal at these points from bending upward, thin stiffening-pieces 8,separate from the lanternbody, are used to envelop the projectingflanges or lips of the sections, these stiifeningpieces being in theexample illustrated of triangular form, and the bolts 7 or rivets orequivalent devices passing through and securing the stiffening-pieces inposition.

It will thus be seen that I have produced a lantern-casing which iscomposed of but few parts and which is therefore inexpensive to produce,but which is nevertheless strong and durable in its character. I haveshown an oil-reservoir 3 with a suitable burner as placed in the lowercasing-section 1 and a conical draft-guard 10 as placed Within the uppercasing-section 2, this upper section being also formed with air-inletopenings 9, and the products of combustion from the flame beingpermitted to escape beneath the cap at the top of the casin g.

In order to tightly seat the lenses in their sockets, so as to preventany such leakage of air into the casing as will cause flickering orextinguishment of the flame, I employ a ring 5, of rubber or othersuitable flexible material, this ring being concavo-convex incross-section and at its concave inner side receiving and closelyembracing the edge of the lens. The convex outer side of the ring entersa transverse annular groove 4, formed in the illner part of thelens-socket, and the ring is also formed with two oppositely-disposedand outwardly-extending teats (3 for entrance between the lips orflanges of the adjacent parts of the casing-joint. There are, of course,as

many of the rings 5 as there are lenses, and it will be seen that aperfectly tight, strong, and at the same time durable and simple packingis provided for each lens and no flickerin g or extinguislnnent of theflame can occur even in Very high Winds.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new therein, anddesire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

A lantern-casing composed of alower and an upper section each ofsheet-metal and having registering half-sections of the lens-sockets'formed at the point of juncture of said casing-section, externalflanges formed upon the sections at such points of juncture,socket-grooves for the lenses formed in the socketsections, and elasticpacking-rings for embracing the edges of the lenses and entering thesocketgrooves; said rings having external tea-ts for entering betweenthe flanges at the line of juncture between the socket-sections,substantially as set forth.

\VILLIAM S. IIAMM.

\Vitnesses:

TODD MAsoN, V. IIUGo.

